Monday, August 18, 2008

$1.59 in Savings - And I Was Happy?!?

Frugality is relatively new to me. We have some frugal tendencies. But I really feel like I've only dipped my toe into the deep waters of frugal living. Last week I was reading around some of my favorite frugal living sites and came upon this great post on Frugal Hacks. The part that really stood out to me, was the comment about buying bread crumbs. I laughed because bread crumbs were on my grocery list LOL! But then I asked myself, "Why am I buying bread crumbs?" I have all the essential ingredients for making them - BREAD. So I marked bread crumbs off my grocery list!

Sunday as I was preparing to make the Baked Eggplant Parmesan for dinner, I bravely got out the loaf of whole wheat bread. I put a few slices in the toaster oven set for medium toasty. Crumbled the toasted slices into Dave's mini food processor (one of his yard sale scores! He loves that he can use it to make his own hummus!) and voila - made bread crumbs!

Of course making bread crumbs is no great culinary feat. And I only saved $1.59 by making them myself instead of buying them at the grocery store (my homemade version has no HFCS, which is a big bonus!). But I felt this small accomplishment was a much bigger step for me into the world of frugal resourcefulness. I'm finding this new path of frugality challenging to my sense of creativity. It's making me think about the resources I have on hand before I buy. Showing me how to make do whether the money is there or not. And I like it!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We're being especially frugal lately too. But, you know what, this is one of those things that I've never even thought about!

Still Learning said...

You're so funny. If you're feeling really frugal try checking your phone book to see if there is a local meat packing plant. We have a Tyson Chicken processing plant 20 minutes from where I work & most sell to the public during certain days & hours. I can buy a 25 or 30 lb box of Boneless Skinless breasts for $1.25 lb. They sell anything you buy at the grocery store dirt dog cheap. Everytime we leave the plant I smiling ear to ear.

Kate @ A Simple Walk said...

Frugality is all about baby steps! I think it's great that you were willing to just do it.

And think of it this way - you saved $1.59 this week. But how often do you buy bread crumbs? Let's say you buy them twice a month. That works out to $35.16 a year. It might not seem like much, but every little thing helps. Great job!

Kate
http://happytobeathome.net